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Automating Vendor Management and Contract Initiation in Oakland Unified School District
Technology Category
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Databases
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Cities & Municipalities
- Education
Applicable Functions
- Procurement
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Leasing Finance Automation
- Smart Contracts
Services
- System Integration
- Testing & Certification
The Challenge
The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in California, serving 46,000 students across kindergarten to grade 12, was facing challenges in managing its vendor clearance and contract initiation processes. The district was using a paper-based system that involved manually filling out contracts, collecting vendor credentials, processing fingerprints for clearance, and sending all the information to various offices within the district for approval. This process was not only time-consuming but also prone to human error, causing delays in service delivery to schools and central office departments. The district needed a workflow management system that could automate these processes and allow outsider vendors to use the system as well.
About The Customer
The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is a public education school district that was founded in the 19th century in Oakland, California. The district serves 46,000 students from kindergarten through grade 12 across 86 schools. It has launched a five-year plan to promote excellence, with a goal of students finding joy in their academic experience while learning the skills needed to succeed in the future. The district has embraced three core priorities – effective talent programs, an accountable school district, and quality community schools. As part of its accountability and quality priorities, it has chosen to automate certain tasks that were bogging down its staff in paperwork and manual follow-up.
The Solution
OUSD turned to Integrify, a 100% web-based solution for workflow management, to automate its vendor clearance and contract initiation processes. The software was installed on OUSD’s on-site servers in 2010 and upgraded to the latest version 6 platform in 2014. Integrify provides form creation, routing definition, and tracking tools to those responsible for processing requests, minimizing data entry and simplifying requests for approval and fulfillment. The solution eliminates problems typically related to labor-intensive processes such as manual paper handling and email requests, and can reduce costs per transaction 60 to 90 percent as opposed to paper-based processes. OUSD is running two major processes through the Integrify platform - vendor management and contract initiation. The system allows users to fill out a form online to initiate the contract, and an email is sent to the vendor to complete the web form and attach their credentials. The package is then sent to procurement for approval.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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